


last pages from a journal

by dharkephoenyx



Series: Rachel's Memories [2]
Category: Glee
Genre: Amnesia, Broadway, Drama, F/M, Firefighters, Glee - Freeform, Humor, Hurt/Comfort, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-07-10
Updated: 2012-07-10
Packaged: 2017-11-09 14:22:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,877
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/456492
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dharkephoenyx/pseuds/dharkephoenyx
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The missing 26 months stolen from Rachel Berry. If someone is truly your soulmate then something as silly as amnesia shouldn't be able to erase them from your memories. Right?</p><p>After Rachel is mugged walking home from the theatre one night, she wakes up three weeks later with a ring on her finger and a certain amber-eyed fireman claiming to be her fiancé. But she doesn't remember him and the doctors say they don't know if and when she'll ever regain her memories.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. steal my breath away and confuse the words in my mind

**Author's Note:**

> Finn, being Finn resigns to let her fall in love with him all over again. A collection of one shots of the memories she missed. Read 'and when the sunshine' breaks before these.
> 
> Disclaimer: Glee, not mine. A very overactive imagination, I claim it 10 times over.

Finn fidgets in the seat beside Puck. He really thinks Kurt is trying to strangle him with the tie he's forced him to wear and the seats are too cramped for his legs and he really wants a beer. But his parents, Puck and Mike are all here for his brother's debut performance so he'll suffer through it if he must.

He flips through the playbill they gave him when they walked in and comes to his brother's picture. He's grinning broadly and under his name and accolades he acknowledges their parents, their glee club and his baby brother who 'despite being the biggest teddy bear ever told him to never give up on something he truly believes in because not believing in yourself is the worst thing you could ever do.' He snorts because everyone believes he's older than Kurt by looks alone, so calling him the baby brother is quite hilarious.

He flips back to the beginning of the playbill and catches sight of a name –  _Rachel Berry._

He nudges Puck and the man grunts in question.

"This your cousin?" he taps the picture.

"Yea."

He whistles. Puck glares at him and he chuckles. "Dude, she's hot."

"Yea, and I'll break every bone in your body if you even dream of talking her up." Puck's eyes literally glints in ire.

"Relax, dude. I haven't even met her yet."

"Just keep your junk to yourself 's all I'm saying." The other man mutters and turns back towards the stage.

He chuckles and turns his head forward too. Puck could be a downright maniac sometimes.

The lights overhead lower and the stage lights up. People start filing on stage prancing around and chatting and then his stepbrother strides on stage and his mother gasps beside him, one hand clutching his step-father's hand and the other grasping the huge bouquet in her lap.

Kurt's good. He's always been an awesome singer and he's pretty powerful on stage right now. He tries to recline in his seat because even though he's bored out of his mind he can't actually let his mother know that. Beside him Puck and Mike on his other side are seemingly more interested in what's going on on stage and he glances back to see a petite green-skinned woman sitting on a bench.

When she opens her mouth and starts singing his bottom jaw literally falls to the floor. She's… she's…

Shit. He can't think of a word to describe the feeling of his pulse racing, his palm sweaty and his heart thudding in his chest.

All he knows, Rachel Berry is singing.

* * *

He's standing beside his parents with his hands shoved in his pockets as they wait for Kurt outside the dressing rooms.

He glances over at Puck who's standing beside two older gentlemen, one holding onto Puck's sister Sarah's hand as they talk. He figures the shorter of the two is Puck's mother's brother; the dark-skinned man is his husband. Sarah stands with a bouquet of flowers, twirling her dress as she waits impatiently for her cousin.

His stomach grumbles and he silently urges Kurt to just hurry up already! He's tall enough to have a perfect view of the dressing room doors and he rejoices internally when they open. People who had performed on stage start coming through and he's practically bouncing on the balls of his feet as he searches for her. And his brother too of course.

Tina, the bubbly Japanese girl Mike's been talking to literally flies out and straight into his friend's arms. Her parents gather around them and he grins, pretty sure Mike will be unavailable for the rest of tonight.

He looks back towards the doors, anxious to see them now.

They exit together, smiling widely and people lingering around the doors start clapping. Rachel does a cute curtsey, and Kurt does one of those beauty queen waves as they make their way towards them.

His mother's smile is wide as she sees Kurt, clutching the flowers to her chest. He grabs them from her before she can squeeze the life out of them, and Burt, his stepfather chuckles. As Rachel and Kurt step closer he wishes he had flowers for her too. Spying the blue orchid at the centre of Kurt's bouquet he slips it out, hiding it behind his back.

Kurt squeals and jumps into Carole's arms and they jump around happily. He looks over them at Burt and the older man just shrugs and grins.

"Sweetie, you were fantastic!" Carole gushes, hugging Kurt tightly. After he disentangles from his stepmother, he turns to his father, who hugs him proudly.

"You were great, son. Proud of you."

Carole grabs the flowers from him as Kurt whirls around to him. "Well, Finn? What'd you think?"

He hugs his brother, lifting him off the ground and the younger man shouts in surprise. "You were awesome bro. Mom cried."

"Oh hush." Their mother chastises as she thrusts the flowers towards her son, pulling him to hug her again.

"Wait, wait. You have to meet Rachel. She's an amazing singer, she was the green-skinned lady!" he hurries through the crowd and Finn sees him grab hold of Rachel and drags her back towards them, Puck on her heels.

"Mom, Dad, Finn, meet Rachel. Guys, the talented, future star of Broadway, Rachel Berry." Kurt gives a flourished wave as he 'presents' her and her laugh is rich and throaty, her hair messy against her cheek, some green paint still stuck to her face.

She shakes hands with Burt and Carole just pulls her into another hug. "My dear, you were marvellous on stage! Your voice!"

"Thanks. I'm glad you liked the show!" she replies, smile bright and her eyes sparkling.

She turns to him and he holds out the single orchid to her. She gasps and whatever he was about to say disappears at the look on her face. She already has three bouquets in her hand but her face practically lights up at the sight of the flower he offers her.

"You were beautiful on stage." He murmurs.

"Thank you." She says quietly, her eyes meeting his again. He nods, still staring at her when Kurt tugs at her arm to engage her in conversation with Carole again.

Burt sidles up beside him and nudges him with his elbow. "Smooth." He winks.

His ears get hot and he tries to ignore the smirk his stepfather is currently boasting. Puck is shooting him daggers from behind Rachel and he gives him a nervous smile, stepping back just a little.

"We're heading out for dinner, why don't you come with? I'm sure it won't be a problem if you and family would like to join us?" Carole says.

"Oh, um. That's very kind of you, I'll ask."

Rachel shoots him one last look before fighting through the crowd again to get to her fathers. Like two. She has two dads. And Puck. Who's currently giving him the look he uses when he's either about to arrest someone or call his bluff at poker.

Crap.

He can still see her over the crowd as she points to where his family stands, Carole resting her palm against Kurt's cheek. The dark-skinned man grins broadly and nods, bending down to pick up Sarah in his arms and then the four of them make their way over.

"Mr. and Mrs. Hummel, these are my fathers, Hiram and LeRoy Berry. And this little angel is my cousin, Sarah, Noah's sister."

He stifles a snort because no one really calls Puck by his given name in public. His parents shake hands with Rachel's parents and between the four of them they decide to eat at the restaurant Burt had made reservations at, Kurt reassuring Rachel that they had an excellent vegan menu.

* * *

He's sitting beside Kurt across from Rachel and Puck and for the most part he manages to avoid the death glares the other man is throwing at him. Puck is the biggest manwhore he knows and he should know that Finn isn't nowhere half as bad that he is. His last serious relationship, which ended thanks to Puck ironically, was his junior year in college. He'd been on dates, but he wasn't a hit it and quit it man like his friend.

Rachel was awesome. He knew he needed to think of another adjective to describe her but she really was great. She spoke to everyone at the table, getting up briefly to run to Tina who she'd seen coming in with Mike, introduced the girl to everyone at the table before kissing her cheek and promising her to call her tomorrow.

She jokes with her little cousin and teases Puck, she blushes at her father's praise and smiles widely whenever Carole talks to her.

He doesn't say much. He'd prefer to keep his verbal diarrhoea to himself and avoid embarrassment, but he couldn't avoid sneaking several glances at her throughout dinner.

Conversation flows easily amongst his parents and hers, and Hiram and Burt even had some riveting conversation on football, LeRoy and his mother exchange recipes and mutters about heart-healthy diets of their husbands.

He catches her looking at him too, brushing her hair behind her ear so she could peek at him from the corner of her eyes and when Puck accidentally kicks him under the table for the tenth time he glares at the other man until he narrows his eyes and snickers.

Dinner turns into dessert and he finds himself reaching up to tug at the tie around his neck as Rachel shares her chocolate cake with Sarah. She giggles with her cousin, stealing the little girl's fork and pulling the chocolately delight into her mouth, licking the cream off the corners of her lip.

The woman was trying to give him a heart attack.

Either she wasn't aware of his reactions to her or he didn't care but when she chances a look at him again, her entire face blushes red and she drops her hair to curtain her face, fingers shaking as she takes another bite of cake.

When she looks up at him again, he tries to smile, the side of his mouth pulling up and she smiles back, her gaze shy as they watch each other.

He's both glad and annoyed when his father asks for the check, he wants to look at her more, but not with a crowd. He excuses himself and goes to the bathroom, washing his sweaty hands and dabbing his face with water, taking off the godforsaken tie that seems suddenly too tight.

He steps out of the bathroom and walks outside, grateful for the cool air.

"You like my cousin." Puck says, stepping up beside him with a sleeping Sarah in his arms.

"She's kinda awesome, dude. Really." He replies quietly. Puck's a cop. With a gun.

"Hmmmph."

"Really, dude, if by some miracle I do ask her out and she says yes, if I do make a fool of myself, I give you full permission to kick the crap outta me, man."

And he's serious. Two hours just looking and talking with her with his family and hers and he can actually see this same scene five years in the future. Except Rachel is wearing his ring.

"Oh, I plan to. If you break that little woman's heart Huddy, believe me when I say hell would be a vacation for what I would have planned for you." Puck's voice is low and even. And even he's not dumb enough to doubt that he's not completely serious.

"Noah." Rachel calls from behind them and they turn as she hurries up. She looks at him, sharing that smile with him again and bites her lip.

She turns to her cousin. "I told Dad's they could stay at my apartment and I'd stay with you and Sarah. That way they won't have to get up too early. I told him we'd take her back in the evening."

"Sure. I'll go put her in the car, just come out when you guys are ready." He gives Finn a lingering look and strides towards his car.

They stand in silence, the cool summer breeze blowing around them.

"So." He finally says. He likes the silence but he likes her voice more.

"So." She repeats, turning her eyes to him again. He faces her, pleased to see the orchid he gave her now tucked behind her ear. She touches it and blushes prettily.

"It looks good on you."

"Thank you."

"So, ahm, will you be in New York for long?"

"Another week. I've just decided to draft into the FDNY."

To be honest he'd only gone to the recruiting station because he was riding along with Mike, who was a paramedic, when he needed to drop something off. He was OK working in Burt's garage back home but he felt fidgety and all the times he's visited Kurt in New York, the city sort of grew on him. He'd had another flash of him living here. And he only just decided that morning, neither his parents, Mike, Puck or even Kurt knew.

Her eyes widened. The chocolate-brown orbs reeling him in and if she'd ask for the moon right now, he'd get it for her.

"A firefighter. That's kind of cool. And dangerous. And sexy." She says, her eyes wide as she nibbles at her bottom lips. He's close enough to see the flecks of gold in her eyes and the beauty mark that rests on her cheek. Her skin is a cool, olive tone, creamy and smooth and he knows if he reaches his hand to her cheek it'd be soft under his fingers. He wants to free her lip from her teeth, and he knows that if he kisses her, she'd taste as sweet as she smells, like sunshine and strawberries. He can already feel her breath brushing across his face and all he has to do is slant his mouth over hers and their lips will press together.

The rest of their dinner party start making their way towards them and they step apart, not sure how they were standing so close. She smiles again before stepping towards his parents, kissing them both goodbye.

Kurt gives him a sly smile, throwing his arms around Rachel as he congratulates her again and promises that they'll go for coffee in the morning.

He's never been a morning person, but if it takes him getting up at the ungodly hours that Kurt does, he'll gladly do it for a chance to see this woman who's managed to ingrain the smell on sunshine and strawberries on his heart.

After just one song. Well, maybe three.

...


	2. the voice in the back of my heart

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rachel asks Finn to tell her a memory: when they first moved in together

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AU future Broadway!Rachel and firefighter!Finn in the NY!verse. And its all mixed up along the timeline.

She doesn't find out by a phone call.

She's heading to LA because it's Tina's birthday and Mercedes was performing as back-up for some super-star for this show she was working with and getting them passes so they turn it into Ladies Night Weekend with Kurt. Blaine, Mike and Finn weren't too pleased about them flying across the country for a weekend but with a little bit of kissing and even Rachel pulling out the lingerie and Finn ends up driving them to JFK early Friday morning pouting all the way.

"You didn't invite Quinn?" He asks, pulling her carry-on from the back. He turns back to pull two of Kurt's suitcases and Tina's bag, glaring at his brother.

"Really? Two bags  _plus_  a carry-on?"

Kurt merely blinks at him from behind sunglasses at 5am and hoists his bag onto his shoulder. "Why would we invite Quinn? The only time she hangs out with us is if Puck's with us, and I really don't think I could keep from not strangling her on the other side of the country."

Finn grumbles and walks over to a trolley and drops all four bags, glaring at Kurt as he pushes it away.

He wraps his arms around his girlfriend and tucks her head under his chin. "Can't you have girls' night here?"

She chuckles and squeezes her arms around his waist, resting her chin on his chest as she gazes up at him. "Listen, I don't harp on you when you want to go off with Mike and Sam to some crazy hockey match, and Tina really wants to go and I really want to see Cedes."

"Rachel, come on!" Tina hollers.

Finn pouts and presses his lips to hers. "Naked Sunday when you come back?"

She giggles and smacks his chest. He pushes his bottom lip out further.

"Sunday."

She links their middle fingers together, kisses them then kisses him and Tina has to come over and pull her away.

"I love you!" They say it together as Tina drags her through the front doors of the departure lounge.

"Kiss her when she gets back!" Tina shouts behind them.

"You're just jealous because your husband isn't here."

"Yes. Now they both can suffer together at the firehouse."

"Why is it Mike always there?"

"I have no idea. Something about the snack machine and your banana bread. The other paramedics say the ones at the hospital suck." They wrap their arms around each other and join Kurt in line to check in and they squeal like little girls when Kurt calls Mercedes and announces they're making LA their bitch.

So, LA.

The three of them are backstage screaming at Mercedes' performance. Their best friend sounds  _amazing_  and they're jumping up and down like fools and neither of them hears their phones ringing.

Noah and Mike keep calling but no one answers.

Later, when they're doing shots and Tina's missing Mike, Kurt confiscates all phones and its way in the afternoon the next day before anyone remembers about them.

Noah's and Stacey's, Sam's sister, calls all go to voicemail.

Mercedes is up before everyone else and leaves to go get coffee when it's creeping past one in the afternoon. She's loud when she comes in and they're all still sprawled on cushions on the living room floor and Rachel is drooling on Tina's legs.

Mercedes whistles and she opens one eye to glare at her best friend.

"I hate you."

" _Must_ you be so loud?" Kurt grumbles, pulling the shield from his over his eyes. Tina rolls over and rubs her face then stretches.

"What's the plan today?"

"You all slept through the afternoon." Mercedes chuckles, handing over cups of green tea to Rachel and Kurt and Tina a hot chocolate. She puts a basket of muffins and a plate of fruit on the coffee table.

Rachel yawns. "We can still go hit up Rodeo Drive and the Walk of Fame. 'S not too late."

Kurt perks up. "Rodeo Drive." He's up and in the bathroom before anyone registers what just happened.

Mercedes tosses over napkins and flips on the TV to show a news ticker about a fire showing firemen putting out a very large blaze. Mercedes' gets a haunted look in her eyes, worrying away at her lip and Rachel understands the feeling, since they're both dating firemen.

She walks over on her knees and sits at her friend's foot, resting her cheek on her leg as she nibbles at her muffin and Mercedes' ruffles her hair as thanks.

Tina yawns and gulps her chocolate, falling onto the couch as she stares at the screen. Rachel isn't really watching the newscast though; they're in LA and thankfully their boys are safe in Brooklyn. The view outside of Cedes' high rise apartment is gorgeous and sunny and she's actually excited to see the Walk of Fame.

"Hey Rach, maybe we should check out the Saban Theatre while we're here."

She turns around to face Tina. "Like see a show?"

Her friend grins. "Yea, just to see how the other side lives, eh?" Her and Tina have been with Will Shuester's workshop since graduation and they've only gotten small roles on Off-Broadway. One day it'll be their names in lights and people coming from all over the world to see them perform. She grins at Tina.

"Rachel."

Mercedes' voice sounds hollow. She looks up at her and sees trepidation on her friend's face as she stares at the TV.

She turns back to the TV, frowning as she watches them try and put out an office building, the blaze too much for one engine to handle. Blood pounds in her ears as she stares at the screen when it tells her an explosion in an office building is still ablaze and that there are two other engines arriving on the scene and her heart plummets to her stomach when Lad.107, Engine 225- Brooklyn flashes across in the news ticker.

Finn and Sam are part of ladder 107, Engine 225 from Brooklyn.

Mercedes' hand clamps down on her shoulder as they both stare at the screen, barely aware of Tina screaming for Kurt. He comes in, rubbing stuff into his hair and takes one look at their faces and then at the TV.

"Jesus Christ,  _Finn._ "

She doesn't look around when he hurries over to his jacket, tossing theirphones at them.

She fights to pull her eyes away from the screen, her hand flying to her mouth when she sees 78 missed calls.

Three from the hospital.

Twelve from her fathers.

Fifteen from Finn's parents.

Five from Mike.

Eight from Santana.

Thirty-five from Noah.

Her face is wet as she dials speed dial two.

It goes straight to Finn's voicemail every time.

She's about to dial a fifth time when it rings in her hand. She brushes away tears to see Noah's face grinning back at her.

"Noah?" Her voice is hoarse when she answers.

" _Jesus fuck, Berry_! Where the hell have you been?"

"Noah, what's happened?"

It's Mercedes beside Rachel who screams out in answer and Tina grips onto their friend's shoulder. Kurt puts his hand around her arm pulling her to her feet and she hears bits and pieces of what her cousin tells her. Kurt takes the phone from her and pushes her into the bathroom.

"Don't make me have to come undress you. Your clothes will be waiting on you." He hesitates, and she sees the fear flash across his face before he presses his forehead against hers. Then he disappears and leaves her alone.

She goes through the motions as quickly as she can, tying her wet hair into a plait when she comes out of the bathroom. Tina is already dressed and on the phone as she bustles about. Kurt leads her over to the bed where her clothes are laid out.

Mercedes is sitting at the desk with her hand pressing at her forehead and before long they're sitting in the taxi, arms wrapped around each other as they head towards LAX, Kurt's phone still glued to his ear.

* * *

The second she rushes through the hospital doors to where Noah said the fire-fighters were being kept, she spies Burt. Finn's step-father looks up at the rush of footsteps and gets to his feet, wrapping his arms around Rachel and Mercedes. Her friend rushes over towards her boyfriend's family and Kurt steps into his father's embrace.

There are two other families there: she recognizes Sam's father and sister and sees Graham's, the other fire-fighter who was trapped, pregnant wife walking towards them with a water jug in her hands. Stacey, taller than Rachel already at 16 hugs her tight and Mr. Evans squeezes her hand after pulling Mercedes into their arms. Graham's wife, Sheila, grips onto Rachel's hand hard, brushing away her tears.

They tell them that Sam's doing better than when they brought him in, he's awake and talking, but the doctor's have him in some other room while they run some more tests, his mother with him. He only suffered a minor concussion and some bruised ribs. Mercedes and Stacey wrap their arms around each other as they cry.

Graham has a broken collarbone and a sprained wrist, but he was going to be alright. Both he and Sam would be fine because Finn held up part of the roof that had fallen on Graham and knocked Sam aside. Right after they'd pulled Graham out, Finn had passed out and hit his head.

He was still unconscious.

Burt presses his lips to her hair and pushes her forward with Kurt. She grips his hands until her knuckles are bone white while Kurt murmurs reassurances to her. She wants to believe him, that Finn will be alright, but it had been almost 24 hours since they pulled them from the fire. Everyone else was awake.

They find Carole in the room, her fingers clasping her son's. Aside from the dirt smudging his face and the bandages wrapped around his head and shoulder Finn looks like he's asleep.

Carole looks up when Rachel whimpers and opens her arms to her. She goes over to her boyfriend's mother and allows the woman to crush her to her chest, her eyes never leaving Finn.

"How is he?" She disentangles herself from the woman's arms and runs her fingers lightly over Finn's other hand on the bed, her palm pressing against his. She leans over touches her lips to his cheek, Kurt's hand running over his brother's shaved head.

"The doctors said he hit his head hard even with the helmet on when he collapsed. He was holding the beam up for almost thirty minutes before anyone could come in and get them, and ah - he dislocated his shoulder too." Carole's voice is wet with tears as she grips her son's hand tighter.

"He had to be the hero, huh?" Kurt's proud of his brother, she knows; he shakes his head with a small smile on his face.

"Graham would have been crushed if it weren't for Finn."

She looks to the doorway to see her cousin standing there, a grim look on his face. She presses her hand to her mouth to stifle her cries and curls her small body beside Finn's, getting as close to him while still being mindful of his injuries.

"Baby, I'm home. It's not Sunday yet, but I'm home. Please wake up." She whispers, kissing his chest. There's no reaction from Finn besides the steady rise and fall of his chest and the faint fluttering of his eyes.

More tears leak from her eyes as she cries silently. Maybe she's overreacting, but she did promise him she'd come home on Sunday. And she's here but he's not awake to see her.

This was the risk she lived with with Finn being a fire-fighter. She loves him for it and she was proud of him for saving Sam and Graham's lives, but not at the risk of his own. He was young and eager and very good at his job after just a year in the fire department. She remembers thinking that Finn as a fire-fighter was sexy and dangerous. Today, right now she can see just how dangerous it can be.

Now would be a really good time for Finn to wake up and stop scaring her.

* * *

His face is still dirty from the soot and ash from the fire. She reluctantly pulls herself way from beside him and gets a towel from the nurses and a basin of warm water and sits beside him, wiping the dirt from his face. She runs her fingers over the freckles she loves, whispering silent prayers that he'll open his eyes. She loves his eyes, they speak volume when his lips don't and she can spend hours just staring into them; she can't imagine not seeing them again.

_Restless hearts  
Sleep alone tonight  
Sending all my love along the wire_

"Have you slept sweetheart?"

She turns around to see Carole standing there with two coffee cups and a duffel bag. She had to insist the night she came back that Kurt take his parents to stay at her and Finn's apartment, Carole was sleeping in the uncomfortable chair beside Finn and Burt was in the waiting chair outside his door because he refuses to leave his wife's side. She hates hospitals but as long as Finn was here, this is where she was going to be. And she wasn't leaving until he woke up.

"Yes, a little."

The older woman frowns disapprovingly but says nothing as she walks into the room and hands her a cup, pressing her lips to Rachel's hair. "Any change?"

She shakes her head and runs her hands over Finn's, sighing when there's no reaction. She links their middle fingers together and settle on the chair beside the bed.

"His Chief came by earlier and Mike and Tina are downstairs getting something to eat." She says quietly.

Finn's mother nods and pulls up a chair opposite her and Finn. "How're the others?"

"Sam's good, he came by earlier, despite Mercedes' mothering him." She cracks a smile and looks back at the beautiful man lying prone on the bed. "Graham isn't supposed to be up on his feet either but he stopped by too, to thank Finn. Sheila dragged him away to get some rest, they're supposed to be getting him a chair."

Carole nods and they share a proud smile.

There's still no change throughout the day and she eats because Carole and Kurt insist, drags herself to the shower and hurries back to curl up beside Finn, singing to him again as the sun disappears into the sky.

Three days into Finn's unconsciousness, her fathers drop by again and LeRoy's eyes are red when he embraces Carole. Finn's mother and her daddy had really become good friends since they first met at her and Kurt's NYADA performance. She watches as they talk quietly and when Finn's doctor calls them outside Finn's hospital door, both sets of parents huddle in a corner with her. Her daddy holds Carole's hand in both of his while Burt wraps his arms around his wife.

She holds Finn's hand tight in hers and caresses his cheek. He has a couple days of scruff that Kurt insists needs to be shaved. She tells him no because Finn hates shaving and she's a fan of his scruffiness, she loves him a little bit more because of it.

* * *

She slips next door to see Graham when the doctors check on Finn the third night. Sheila is curled up on the cot beside Graham's bed, the sheet slipping from her shoulders. She adjusts the sheets and brushes the woman's hair off her forehead.

"How is he?"

She looks up to meet Graham's worried eyes and smiles. "He's still asleep, but the doctor's aren't worrying about anything else going wrong. He'll have one hell of a headache when he wakes up though."

Finn's friend nods and sighs relieved. His grey eyes are wet when he opens them. "Three years. I've been with the force two years longer than Huddy and I've never had to worry about this. Another explosion went off when we were sweeping the building and Huddy just reacted."

She rests her hand on Graham's arms. "Stop. It's over, you're fine. And Sam's fine. Finn will be alright."

He stares at her and then nods once. She squeezes his hand as his eyes slip closed. She catches Sheila watching them and smiles at her before she walks out, going back to Finn's room. Kurt is already sleeping on the hard chair beside the bed. She lays beside Finn again, singing, resting her cheek against his heart. She listens to the beat of it as it relaxes her and lulls her to sleep.

On Tuesday, Santana and Brittany visit with Mike and Tina. Carole and Burt come in, bringing her breakfast that she picks at and grudgingly lets Carole push her towards the bathroom. She stands aside with Carole and Kurt when the nurse comes in to check Finn's vitals again. Physically, Finn was fine, despite the dislocated shoulder and minor smoke inhalation. The doctors think that the stress of that much weight combined with the heat of the collapsed room simply overwhelmed Finn. Its just a matter of time before he wakes up.

She falls asleep beside Finn, his parents already leaving for the night and Kurt's boyfriend dragging him home because he slept there the night before. In her sleep, she feels the arm not in the sling tighten around her as he groans softly. She jerks awake, moving slowly as she pushes herself up on her elbows. Finn swallows and frowns, his eyes still closed.

"Rach?" He croaks.

"Yea." She breathes.

He smiles tentatively, slowly blinking his eyes open.

"Hi."

She kisses her fingertips and presses them to his lips. "Hi."

He pouts and she pushes herself up so she can press her lips to his, her face wetting his.

"Where am I?"

"Hospital." She brushes tears from her eyes and fumbles for the alert button on Finn's bed.

"The fire." He coughs slightly and she leans over and grabs her bottle of water and a straw, kneeling to put the bottle at his lips. Finn drinks greedily before laying his head back on the pillow, his hand reaching for her again.

"Sam?"

"He's fine. He's home."

Finn nods. "Graham?"

"Room next door. He'll be okay."

He tries to smile and she slips off the bed when the doctor and nurses rush in. His good arm grabs onto her palm and won't let go. She kisses his hand as the doctor gently pulls her away, and she hurries towards a corner, pulling out her phone to call his mother and brother, tears blurring the numbers in front of her because Finn was finally awake.

_You stand by me  
I'm forever yours  
Faithfully_

* * *

She sits in the bathtub pressed against Finn as his fingers trail water over her arm.

"I could hear you singing."

She twists her head on his chest so she can stare up at him.

"Yea." He smiles shyly. "It's like – hearing something in the next room, and you keep getting closer and closer to it, but you never find it."

She thinks for a minute and then frowns. "So, you're saying, my singing brought you back? That day in the hospital?"

Finn smiles and kisses her hair. "I guess so."

"Huh." She twists back around, running her palm over his thigh.

"I mean, we'd only been dating, what seven months? I only remember praying we got out of that place because Sunday was supposed to be Naked Sunday."

She pinches his thigh and Finn yelps, water sloshing over the side as he jerks. He wraps his arms around her and peppers her neck with wet kisses.

"I'm sorry I never picked up my phone in LA." She says quietly as his lips linger on the spot behind her ear.

"Rach -,"

"I'm sorry." She says again. He turns her in his arms and brushes her hair away from her face.

"I'm here, I'm still here."

She nods and he uses his thumbs to wipe away the tears on her face. He watches her eyes as he leans in and kisses her, the amber-coloured depths sparkling at her.

She presses her fingers to his jaw, smiling as her engagement ring sparkles on her finger.

"Tell me something else."

...


End file.
